![]() ![]() Whether adding rock elements to salsa king Tito Puente's "Oye Como Va," embracing instrumental jazz-rock on "Incident at Neshabur" and "Samba Pa Ti," or tackling moody blues-rock on Fleetwood Mac's "Black Magic Woman," the band keeps things unpredictable yet cohesive. But at the dawn of the 1970s, this unorthodox mix of rock, jazz, salsa, and blues proved quite successful. In the mid-'90s, an album as eclectic as Abraxas would be considered a marketing exec's worst nightmare. When one considers just how different Santana, Jefferson Airplane, Moby Grape, and the Grateful Dead sounded, it becomes obvious just how much it was encouraged. ![]() The San Francisco Bay Area rock scene of the late '60s was one that encouraged radical experimentation and discouraged the type of mindless conformity that's often plagued corporate rock. To wit: two hit singles that emanated from opposite ends of the spectrum-"Black Magic Woman," originally written and recorded by English blues-rock guitarist Peter Green and Fleetwood Mac, and New York Latin percussionist/dance music king Tito Puente's infectious "Oye Como Va." Tying blues, rock, and salsa together in one pancultural package, Abraxas also featured such standout tracks as "Gypsy Queen" and "Singing Winds, Crying Beasts." The latter underscored the growing Eastern sensibilities of guitarist Santana. Santana's 1970 follow-up to their Woodstock-propelled smash '69 debut found leader Carlos Santana further expanding his San Francisco group's already broad musical boundaries. Abraxas is now considered to feature a classic of rock-album covers. ![]() Carlos Santana reportedly noticed it in a magazine and asked that it be on the cover of the band's upcoming album. According to the artist, it was one of the first paintings he did after relocating to New York City. The album cover features the 1961 painting Annunciation by German-French painter Mati Klarwein. We questioned the painting, berated it, made love to it, prayed to it: We called it mother, called it whore and slut, called it our beloved, called it Abraxas." The title of the album originates from a line in Hermann Hesse's book, Demian, quoted on the album's back cover: "We stood before it and began to freeze inside from the exertion. In 2016, the album was selected for preservation in the National Recording Registry due to its "cultural, historic, or artistic significance. Abraxas is the second studio album by Latin rock band Santana, released in September 1970. ![]()
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